Single, Divorced Mom? Learn to Do Home Repairs Yourself!
Filed Under (Home Repair) by admin on 02-10-2009
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Are you a mother who is newly single due to a recent divorce? I’m confident you’re peddling as fast as you can because so much needs handling these days all by yourself. You may not have the funds to hire things done, so this is the perfect opportunity to learn how to do home repairs yourself. Lots of women are quite capable in this arena.
1. One of the best ways to learn about home maintenance is to volunteer for Habitat for Humanity projects. You’ll be taught how to swing a hammer, use a saw or use power tools. And you’ll be with others who are also learning how, so any discomfort you might feel spreads around among the bunch of you.
2. There is a great site for teaching women how to do home projects (they have over 200 projects currently posted) at www.BeJane.com.
3. Make friends with your local Do-It Center or Home Depot employees. Tell them what you want to do and see if the store might be holding a how-to class. If not, ask the department personnel to explain what you need to do, and what you need to purchase to get that job done.
4. The next part happens when you arrive on your home front with everything you purchased and a feeling of overwhelm about how to begin. A tip that’s gotten me to the end of a project is to ask myself at the beginning: “Can you see ONE step to take? Can you take that one?” The next one always shows up. It takes willingness, perseverance and bit of courage to begin, persevere through all the steps and then enjoy your handicraft.
5. Go to used book stores and purchase How-To books. Now that the internet is the be-all, end-all, do all, the old Encyclopedias showing “How To” are available cheap at yard sales and used book stores. Then, when you’ve got a project to do, you’ll have information at your hand to get in there and get started on it.
6. Be creative. I knew a lady who wanted to replace a garbage disposal. It’s kind of tough to hold it up underneath the sink and tighten it down from above, so this very creative lady got the jack from her car (you do know how to use a jack, right?) and jacked the disposal in place while she worked on it from above. Clever girl!
7. Keep all your tools together in an easy to carry container. Plastic cat liter containers are great and if you’re handy sewing, you can make an apron with pockets for it to hold tools on the inside and on the outside.
8. Home Improvement television shows are a great source for educating your newly growing expertise. You can learn a lot from watching designers re-do homes with the help of their talented handymen on HGTV. Those fellows have great tips for making the jobs easier.
9. There are toolkits designed for women. Frankly, I cannot for the life of me see the difference except for color. A tool only needs to be functional to work. Color does not improve functionality.
Because of divorce, you are often challenged to unfold some more talent from within yourself, and for single moms, home repair is one of those places. Do research on the internet. The internet is today’s library and contains up the minute advice on how to accomplish any project. You can if you think you can!
Watch the video related to home repair
Use a caulking gun by first cutting the spout off. Learn how to use a caulking gunusing the home remodeling tips from the owner of a construction company in this free video. Expert: Ryan Parker Contact: www.ParkerHomeRenovations.com Bio: Ryan Parker is the owner of Parker Home Renovations in New Braunfels, Texas. Filmmaker: MAKE | MEDIA
Help answer the question about home repair
What makes you choose one home repair person over another?Like plumbers, heating and air conditioning repair,appliance repair, etc? How do you find the one you want? Where do you look, or who do you talk to?
thanks!!! :0) Very helpful!
LOL I thought he said cock, slide your cock in and pump it..
Thanks! I couldn’t figure out how to load the dang thing. I was ready to throw this gun across the room!
Hilty makes a type of plastic toggle bolt that will be perfect for you. I don't exactly know what it's called but check their web site out. It's about 6 to8 inches long and you make a 3/8" hole, insert, pull the tabs, and your done. It accepts #8&10 screws. Perfect! If your wall is solid, they will take the weight.
go to auto parts store get a quart of fiberglass reinforced auto body filler it comes with hardener you can ad a little of that and be good to go
Thank you sir! You saved my day!
0:30 ftw
The Home Repair and Remodeling Act is a law passed by the Illinois General Assembly which specifically defines requirements of contractors and rights of homeowners who contract for repairs or remodeling to homes. I am enclosing a link to it. Hope this helps.
as unimportant as caulking may seem. it is very important! and should be done by a professional, trust and believe me when i tell u .dont be fooled by the do it yourself guys u dont want to (see) the outcome of a unprofessional job. it can cause u problems with energy bills, bug infestation, rotting windows and siding .and odds are you are not going to become a professional over night! so save yourself money ,and time. have it done professionaly the first time.
Yes they do have workshops. Whether its what your looking for in particular or not I don't know. You can check their sites for upcoming workshops. Try sites like DIY or HGTV. You can also check your local library for books on the subject.
He is not being lazy it is hard to do not as bad on an suv as it would be a van the best advice I can give you is get a vehicle specific repair manual and follow what it says.Is it worth it? that all depends on a few things such as having the right tools and knowing how to do it if and having the time. If you have the tools know how and time and you can find one cheap that just needs a head gasket get you a book and go for it you can save a bundle by doing it yourself
I tried to find some direct information for you (usually a city has grants for this- not Montgomery though!). The best I can do is to refer you to the Montgomery Area Council on Aging. They don't have a home repair program but they can work with these seniors to help connect them to an agency or nonprofit who can help.
Their website is http://www.macoa.org
and 0:57 …
Thanks a lot! The other videos aren’t as clear.
If you belong to some specific group you might find one, try grants.gov. They have all of the government grants, with complete instructions if you qualify.
In general there are no grants to improve each others investments. This is your house, you pay to have it the way you want it.
Do you recall voting to be taxed to fix up my kitchen? I do not think so.
But there are grants to modify homes for severally disabled adults in order to allow them to use their homes. If you are part of this group of people your social worker can help you obtain the grants you need.
Sounds like one dangerous roof to walk on! Don't do it! Call a roofing company. They're all capable of full repair. You'll want it stripped so that all rot is exposed and then replaced……. and the new roof lays well. When it comes to shingles, there are different weights that last varying numbers of years……….get the heavy weights! Otherwise, you'll be reroofing in 16 years. Labor is the same for light or heavy.
Thanks! I needed to use the caulk gun to apply some adhesive. This made everything straightforward.
Unlikely that a state or local government licenses handyman services, i.e., through examination or otherwise determines a minimal level of competence. Usually the "license" is simply an occupational registration, a device for raising local govt revenues. Contact the local government office which issues occupational and business registration certificates. To determine whether the repairman is licensed as a building contractor (residential or commercial) call the local government building permit/inspection department both to determine whether the repairman's name is known there (if the person is capable of pulling a building permit), as well as to determine if the license number is of a type which is issued by state or local goverenment. For judgments (which do necessarily have anything to do with competence) search official records on the website of the local office (clerk of court) which records such records. To determine the status of a business entity (corporation, LLC, individual d/b/a under a fictituous name) search the website of the state agency which registers such entities (frequently secretary of state, corporations division).